Telcos face fines for undisclosed prime SMS fees

Hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting subscribers are being sent premium-rate texts they never asked for. PHOTO | FILE 

By NEVILLE OTUKI, notuki@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• The amendments to the Kenya Information and Communications Act 1998 make it mandatory for service providers to inform customers of the charges for premium services before use.
• Violation of the legislation will see executives of telcos risk jail terms of up to three years or a fine of up to Sh300,000 or both.

Mobile phone operators will be required to disclose charges of premium rate text messages to subscribers before use in a new law that seeks to seal avenues for unexplained charges on handsets.
The amendments to the Kenya Information and Communications Act 1998 make it mandatory for service providers to inform customers of the charges for premium services before use.

Hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting subscribers are being sent premium-rate texts they never asked for — and charged up to Sh50 a time.

Customers have complained of being billed for the daily, weekly or monthly texts, which advertise gaming services, ‘glamour videos’ or Bible verses.

Messages do not always make recipients aware they are paying, prompting the review of the laws.

“A telecommunication operator shall, before levying or allowing to be levied, any specific charge relating to a premium rate service provided to a subscriber, disclose the fact, amount, and frequency of the charge to the subscriber,” the amended law says.

This shall, however, “not apply to services rendered by a telecommunications operator on behalf of a public body”.

Violation of the legislation will see executives of telcos risk jail terms of up to three years or a fine of up to Sh300,000 or both.

It is increasingly becoming common for customers to unknowingly subscribe to a service or app that ends up deducting their airtime or data bundles daily whenever they receive notifications.

Premium rate services are usually channelled through SMS short codes or special numbers that mobile phone operators have leased to PRS providers, often companies to run promotions such as betting or offers.

In October, Safaricom issued a statement saying all its customers who have been subscribed to premium rate subscription services without their knowledge will be fully refunded any money billed.

The statement came after a number of customers complained that they were losing airtime in an unexplained manner. At the time, some unsuspecting subscribers had signed up to ‘Cheza Games’, which offered entertainment games for a fee.

“I have committed that all customers who have been erroneously subscribed to the ‘Cheza Games’ service shall be refunded by the providers of the ‘Cheza Games’ service for the amounts erroneously billed,” Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore said.

Services such as ‘Cheza Games’ are run by third parties commonly known as content service providers (CSP) and are licensed by Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) — the telecoms regulator.

Safaricom laid blame on the regulator, which licences the premium rate services providers.

“All mobile service providers are obligated to work with CSPs. We remain concerned that some service providers who are supposed to ensure that their services have a simple opt in and opt out option have not done so, despite continued operator and customer complaints,” said Safaricom.